A Mexican man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a “prolific” human smuggling ring that helped people from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East illegally enter the United States at through Mexico.
Raul Saucedo-Huipio of Mexicali, Mexico, received 87 months, or just over seven years, for facilitating the travel of more than 200 migrants to the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, the Justice Department announced Monday evening.
Saucedo-Huipio, 51, was extradited from Mexico for the trial and convicted for charging tens of thousands of dollars per person to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the indictment. The Justice Department called the smuggling organization “prolific.”
In his role as a supervisor of the smuggling ring, Saucedo-Huipio led people from all over the world on their travels to Mexico, then over the southern border. He is responsible for leading citizens from and through Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico into the U.S.
“Human smuggling is not a victimless crime. It is a direct assault on our national security and an exploitation of some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” said the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, A. Tysen Duva. “This criminal organization not only moved aliens across the border; it stole from them and left them in desperate situations.”
Saucedo-Huipio and a co-conspirator were arrested by Mexican authorities in March 2023, then extradited to the U.S. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring an alien to the U.S. and bringing an alien to the U.S.
Saucedo-Huipio and co-conspirators used various methods to get migrants across the border, including providing a ladder for them to climb over the border wall. The wall ranges from 18 to 30 feet tall.
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The group would locate and shuffle migrants through holes cut into older border wall from the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as provided planks for migrants to ride across the Rio Grande or canals at the border. In one incident, Saucedo-Huipio pushed three small children across the river atop a wooden plank.
The convicted human smuggler also robbed migrants of money, cellphones, and other belongings, holding them at knife point or gun point, according to the indictment.